Groupe FDJ names Philippe Lazare as corporate advisor

Lazare will join the French gambling group’s board.

France.- The Paris Euronext-listed gambling group Groupe FDJ has appointed Philippe Lazare as a non-executive corporate advisor on its board. He will join FDJ’s corporate committee for governance, remuneration and appointments. 

Lazare was chief executive and chairman of the French payment systems provider Ingenico from 2007 to 2020. There he oversaw the implementation of a business reorganisation and scaled the company across Europe, with acquisitions of Ogone in Belgium, Sagem Monetel in France, Easycash in Germany, Global Collect in the Netherlands and Bambora in Sweden. That turned Ingenico from a rather niche terminals provider to the leading Pan-European payment solutions supplier.

Lazare has also advised French Plcs including Air France, Lucien Barrière, Eurotunnel and La Poste. He is currently a member of France’s High Committee for Corporate Governance (HCGE).

FDJ said: “Philippe Lazare will bring his experience in digital transformation, international business and mergers and acquisitions to Group FDJ’s board of directors.”

Française des Jeux (FDJ) reported revenue of €613m for its first quarter of the year. That’s an increase of 14 per cent year-on-year. Stakes rose 10.2 per cent year-on-year to €5.06bn.

Its revenue from lottery operations, its biggest earner, rose 14 per cent, reaching €466.7m in the quarter. Total lottery stakes were up 15.2 per cent year-on-year at €3.99bn. Draw game stakes rose 9.5 per cent to €1.47bn thanks to the Amigo draw.

Meanwhile, instant games attracted stakes of €2.52bn, up 19 per cent, with “3 in 1”, Baraka, and Cash performing well. Online lottery revenue was up by 15.3 per cent, with stakes reaching €575m – 11 per cent of stakes for the quarter. Retail stakes rose by 11.5 per cent to €4.48bn, aided by marketing and sales initiatives.

Sports betting revenue grew 13.4 per cent to €128.5m despite player stakes falling by 5.2 per cent to €1.06bn. FDJ said this was due to unexpected results, especially in football.

FDJ chairwoman and chief executive Stéphane Pallez said: “The start of the year was marked by strong growth in all our business verticals, across all sales channels.”

In April, FDJ launched a new safer gambling campaign that aims to reduce gambling harm. The campaign involves four 30-second films that stress the importance of gambling rules.